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Technicians and associate professionals · code 3117

Mining and metallurgical technicians

Mining and metallurgical technicians perform technical tasks to assist in research and experiments related to metallurgy, in improving methods of extracting solid minerals, oil and gas, and in the design, construction, operation, maintenance and repair of mines and mine installations, of systems for transporting and storing oil and natural gas, and for extraction of metals from ores. Tasks include - (a) providing technical assistance to aid in research on and development of processes to determine the properties of metals and new alloys; (b) providing technical assistance in geological and topographical surveys and in the design and layout of oil, natural gas and mineral ore extraction and transportation systems, and processing and refining plants for minerals and metals; (c) preparing detailed estimates of quantities and costs of materials and labour required for mineral, oil and natural gas exploration, extraction, processing and transport projects; (d) monitoring technical, regulatory and safety aspects of the construction, installation, operation, maintenance and repair of mineral ore, oil and natural gas exploration, extraction, transport and storage installations and mineral processing plants; (e) helping plan and design mines, mine shafts, tunnels and underground first-aid facilities; (f) collecting and preparing rock, mineral and metal samples, performing laboratory tests to determine properties, analysing and reporting test results and maintaining testing equipment; (g) using microscopes, electromagnetic irradiation machines, spectrometers, spectrographs, densitometers and tension testing machines; (h) assisting scientists in the use of electrical, sonic, or nuclear measuring instruments in both laboratory and production activities to obtain data indicating potential sources of metallic ore, gas, or petroleum. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Metallurgical technician - Mines inspector - Mining engineering technician Some related occupations classified elsewhere: - Geology technician - 3111 - Miner - 8111 - Mining plant operator - 8111 - Quarrier - 8111

None of this job's tasks scored high enough to count. It ranks 225 of 427 for holding up against AI.

Also known as

  • geotechnician
  • mine surveying technician
  • metallurgical technician
  • desalination technician
  • mine safety officer

Job titles from the EU's ESCO list. Search for any of them on the jobs page and you'll end up here.

71.8
Holds up
against AI Not Exposed

AI could take on 28.2 of 100, on average
so it holds up at 100 − 28.2 = 71.8

That's the whole sum, and you can check it against the ILO's study.

54.1
How hands-on
out of 100

From O*NET, averaged across 4 US jobs

37.5
How fiddly
and cramped

finger skill 40.7 · hand skill 36.6 · cramped spaces 35.4 · averaged

Kind of hands-on work · hands-on 50+ · fiddly under 39.4 Hands-on, less fiddly work

Less fine handwork and fewer cramped spaces than a typical hands-on job. That clears one hurdle for machines. It doesn't mean machines are doing this work yet.

estimated O*NET 31.0 BLS occupational crosswalk chain ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC (Aug 2012, rev. Jun 2015); 2010 to 2018 SOC (Nov 2017); O*NET-SOC 2019 taxonomy data 0.7-work-setting measures chosen by Frey & Osborne (2017) · the grouping is a sorting, not a measurement

This number is probably too high

This score only looks at AI tools like chatbots. It doesn't look at robots at all — and this job rates 54.1 out of 100 for how hands-on it is, which is exactly where robots come in.

Have a look at the tasks below and judge for yourself. The ILO scored them low because a chatbot can't do them. Whether a machine with hands could is a different question, and we can't answer it yet.

The tasks behind the score

The score is the average of these. A job is really a bundle of tasks, and an average can hide how uneven that bundle is.

The task AI could do most of scores 40, while the average is 28.2. A big gap means some of this job is wide open to AI and some of it barely at all. That's quite different from a job where everything sits somewhere in the middle, even when the averages match.

  1. 40

    Preparing detailed estimates of quantities and costs of materials and labour required for mineral, oil and natural gas exploration, extraction, processing and transport projects

    Low
  2. 31.5

    Providing technical assistance to aid in research on and development of processes to determine the properties of metals and new alloys

    Low
  3. 31

    Assisting scientists in the use of electrical, sonic or nuclear measuring instruments in both laboratory and production activities to obtain data indicating potential sources of metallic ore, gas, or petroleum.

    Low
  4. 30.3

    Providing technical assistance in geological and topographical surveys, and in the design and layout of oil, natural gas and mineral ore extraction and transportation systems, and processing and refining plants for minerals and metals

    Low
  5. 26

    Using microscopes, electromagnetic irradiation machines, spectrometers, spectrographs, densitometers and tension testing machines

    Low
  6. 23.5

    Monitoring technical, regulatory and safety aspects of the construction, installation, operation, maintenance and repair of mineral ore, oil and natural gas exploration, extraction, transport and storage installations and of mineral processing plants

    Very Low
  7. 23.5

    Collecting and preparing rock, mineral and metal samples, performing laboratory tests to determine properties, analysing and reporting test results and maintaining testing equipment

    Very Low
  8. 20

    Helping plan and design mines, mine shafts, tunnels and underground first-aid facilities

    Very Low

8 tasks · the High to Very Low labels are the ILO's

from the source Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs 2025 index data 0.7-work-setting

Helped, or replaced?

The score above can't tell a tool that makes you faster from one that does the task instead of you. Jobs and Skills Australia looked at those two things separately, and this is their result, matched to this job.

2 Australian jobs match this one, and we've simply averaged them. Treat the numbers as a rough guide.

AI helps you
68
AI does it for you
35.5

Helping wins by 32.5 points.

estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.7-work-setting matched to Australian jobs 3126, 3129

Compared with similar jobs

There are 82 jobs in the “Technicians and associate professionals” group, averaging 65.3. This one is above that.